Tahiti & French Polynesia Cruises

Tahitian Honeymoon Saving Monies

Just mentioning Tahiti creates pictures of surface bungalow diving over the lagoon in dreamlike areas like Bora Bora. From" The End of the World" cliff-side lounges to beach cottages hidden in the sands, here are some of the genuine (and affordable) ways married couple can enjoy happiness without wasting their whole Honeymoon budgets in a singular nocturn.

There are only two people who will have difficulties deciding which of the 118 Isles and Aylls you want to call home on your twilight vacation. Over 300 of these Tahiti B&Bs are spread across the archipelago today, with night-time fares as low as $100. Better still, the hostellers are often locals who take travellers on sight-seeing and beach walks and touring around the archipelago, where you can even take a look at a working bead factory (after all, Tahiti's dark beads are a great way to make a great Honeymoon souvenir).

The unspoilt Ahe Atlas, an hour's flying with Air Tahiti from the French Polynesian capitol Papeete, will make you think you are on your own personal isle. Booking a stop at Cocoperle Lodge, one of the atoll's two guesthouses, where Frenchman Franck will pick you up by the 20-minute cruise across the lake from the international camp.

There are six straw-covered cottages built entirely from locally grown material right on the waterfront, where you will find paddling and kayaking equipment at your disposal to discover the coast. Rurutu, called "the whale island", is another less well-known place that is as breathtaking as its beloved neighbours like Bora Bora. "On the most northern of the Australian Islands (just an hours and a half flight from Papeete) you will find the most beautiful bungalow like Le Manotel in the middle of a genuine garden of Eden.

It is a remote place on quiet beach with lots of possibilities for watching whales even in the summer time. In order to really get a feeling for the isle, discover with your horse on empty and uninhabited beach, which are as perfectly as possible. Eating by the sea (or on the water!) is virtually assured in Tahiti, with optional boom boats floating to your chalet with supper.

Starting from the InterContinental Moorea you start into the Laguna for a whalewatching trip (tip: you don't have to be a visitor here to make these trips), followed by a swim in a flat part of these water where you are encircled by nice sting rays and black tip shark. It' dinner on a small cliff or small cliff at Coco Beach, where you can taste some of the island's favourites such as newly prepared pooron cru cooked in coir milks.

One of the most romantically designed places on Moorea is also one of the most light. Sit on the back terrace of Le Mayflower under the light chains and enjoy a French-inspired meal with Provencal style meals such as prawns and clams, caviar with Provençal style Raviolis with Rôquefort and the most delicious creamy custard brulée directly from the isle.

Back on the shore, the local people take you to one of the best restaurants in Tahiti, Blue Banana, where you can watch the sunset over Moorea and the lake from the restaurants table on the dock. And if you haven't had enough of poetry cru and French dishes like crepes, don't go without a walk around the busy roulotte, the Tahiti dining cars that are on the shore of Papeete's Place Vai'ete.

Tahiti's islets are located half way between California and Australia with Air Tahiti air travel from Los Angeles to Papeete in just over seven inches. Once on the continent, you can jump across the five isles by air or sea, with isles like Moorea just a 35-minute fast trip away (and a $25 round trip ticket).

As soon as you are on the island itself, you can travel through the tradition Polynesia in one of the most beautiful ways: by roller coaster.